Dream or reality
by QueenStrike8071
Summary: After carrying out an experiment to control and join their dreams, Olivia, Walter and Peter find themselves stuck in their own dreams. Or is it reality?
1. Introduction

**Dream or reality**

Have you ever wanted to control your dreams? Be able to do anything you wanted; go into space, work as an international spy, maybe even fly? There are some theories, that let you control your dreams. Some are more reliable than others.

There is one theory, a more realistic one, that says if you write a bold R on your palm and check it is there often, it will become a habit. It is thought that once this has become a habit you will check your hand while dreaming. Because the "R" stands for reality, if its there you're in reality. If its not, then you're dreaming. Once you have realised it is a dream, you should be able to control it and do whatever you want.

The key to doing the impossible in a lucid dream is belief. If you believe you can fly, you will. If you believe you're a spy, you will be. If you can believe it, you can dream it.

But there is a risk you must take. There is a small possibility that you could get confused. About which is which. You wouldn't know if it was dream or reality. Maybe the "R" on your hand gets washed off in the shower and you think that reality is a dream. For all you know, it could be.


	2. An exciting idea

**An** **exciting** **idea**

"Walter! Walter!" Peter shouted, shaking his shoulders to wake him up. Walter snored loudly then jumped, opening his eyes.

"Oh, oh, am I awake?" Walter asked looking around in bewilderment.

Peter sighed, smiling at Walter "Yes Walter, I just woke you up."

Walter frowned " I was having a rather nice dream. I was in a jungle however the vines were made from red vines, as in the sweets. Just before I popped one in my mouth, I was woken up. Apparently by you. So, thank you Peter. Anyway, I should be able continue my dream with just a bit of LSD..." Peter laughed, walking over to Olivia who had just entered the lab.

"You didn't bring any red vines for Walter did you?" Peter asked hopefully. Olivia looked amused, giving Peter a look to mean 'please explain'. "Well it's either that or LSD" he shrugged. Amused, they watched Walter drug himself then nod back off to sleep. Again, Walter snored loudly making the odd "m-mm" noise; indicating he successfully continued his strange but pleasant dream. Peter wondered, how Walter had continued a dream he had been woken from ten minutes previously. It seemed a good idea, being able to choose what you dreamt, sleeping would be so much easier knowing that you wouldn't be falling down an endless hole or trapped in eternal darkness during it. After Walter woke up, he was in a much better mood and kept smiling to himself.

"Is it possible, to control your own dreams?" Peter asked. Walter smiled, obviously excited by this question,

"What a coincidence! I was just thinking of carrying out an experiment on a certain theory I heard about that requires no brain alteration or scientific machinery. It's a simple one really; you just draw a bold 'R' for reality, on your hand" Walter said, picking up a black marker and doing so, "now, every time you remember to, look at your hand and keep doing so until it becomes a habit." Peter frowned doubtfully but Walter carried on " Then, when you dream, and look at your hand, you will notice the 'R' is not there meaning you are not in reality and that you are dreaming therefore taking control of your dream. But it takes a lot of patience and also self belief. I think we should try it." Walter beamed at them persuasively.

"I guess we could give it a go," Olivia said turning to Peter "What do you think?"

Peter nodded "sure, there's no harm in trying." Walter clapped his hands joyfully, smiling like the Cheshire Cat.

They started without delay, both Peter and Olivia also putting a bold 'R' on their palms. Throughout the day, they all checked their hands (Walter shouted at Peter when he forgot) however it wouldn't become a habit that quick, so three days later they were still checking, whenever they remembered. When they woke up in the morning, on the way to the lab, while grooming gene (well in Walter's case anyway). It became tiring and they started to become impatient, they started to loose interest in what seemed an exciting idea. Although wearily, all day they confirmed they were still in reality. Which they were. Weren't they?


	3. Nothing is as it seems

**Nothing** **is** **as** **it** **seems**

Walter sighed, no experiment had ever gone as badly as this; he didn't always get the results he wanted but he always got something. Peter and Olivia were getting bored, soon enough they would just give up. At least Walter would carry on, he didn't like having nightmares. Maybe this could stop them. He climbed out of his bed but didn't bother looking at his hand, was there really any point? Closing his eyes, Walter breathed in deeply, then opened his eyes breathing out. As his vision focused Walter realised he was no longer in his own home but in the lab, sitting on top of gene. Wait a second, Walter thought, this doesn't make any sense. He climbed down from his cow and looked at the clock. Nine thirty. What had just happened? Where was everyone else? Walter glanced back at the clock again. It read three fifteen.

Olivia stumbled into the lab, not conscious of anything she was doing at that current time.

"Olivia." Walter said with concern and also excitement in his voice. She glanced up at Walter, smiling as she did so.

"Hello Walnut." Olivia said firmly.

"Look at your hand, now!"

"Um, okay..." Olivia waved her hand in front of her face, her eyes grew wide and she thought for a moment. Finally she spoke, "Walter, is this... A dream?"

Walter grinned, "yes!" I knew it would work, oh this is truly wonderful." Peter strode in, a startled look on his face.

"It's worked, all of this is a dream, isn't it?"

Walter replied "yes, it is!"

Peter considered this for a moment. Finally, he asked "If this is a dream then how can you two be having the same dream as me?"

"Ah," Walter commented, "dream telepathy , more common than you would think. When we sleep we are in a deep meditation and a quiet mind which, in theory ,makes it possible to communicate telepathically. I assume as Peter and I are in the same house, that makes it possible. As for Olivia," Walter continued, "I suspect it is an effect from the cortexiphan trials you took part in as a child. A sixth sense, almost." This was a lot of information to take in at once for Olivia, her eyes darted from left to right trying to make sense of everything.

"Wow, this is... Vivid." Olivia said picking up a test tube and inspecting it closely. Previously, when beginning the experiment, she had faith but deep down inside she always thought it would never work. She thought it would just be one of Walter's strange and sometimes pointless experiments. But not this one, this had worked and it was weird. Because Olivia had doubted she would ever be controlling her dreams, she had never even imagined what to do. Therefore, she stood on the perfectly normal lab floor awkwardly waiting for someone or something to happen. After a long pause, Walter squeezed his eyes shut and started to hum, almost like he was trying to concentrate on something. Peter raised his eyebrow and Olivia just looked even more confused. Suddenly, a box of red vines appeared out of nowhere. Opening his eyes, Walters smiled, pulled a red vine out of the box, and bit into it.


	4. It just keeps getting better

**It** **just** **keeps** **getting** **better**

Beep beep  
Olivia rolled over in her bed hitting the off button on her alarm clock. It was 06:00 am and she had just been woken from her lucid dream. She smiled to herself. Remembering how she had called Walter, Walnut. It wouldn't be such a surprise if Walter had said something like that however Olivia would never have guessed that it would be the other way round. Swinging her legs onto the floor, she stood up and and flicked the switch next to her door. The room lit up revealing a big, cardboard box in the middle of the floor. Curious, Olivia tried to open it it wouldn't unseal. She became frustrated and grabbed a pocket knife from her draw. She tried digging the knife into the top of the box however once she pulled out the knife out from the box, there was no sign of the slit Olivia had just made. Out of frustration, she jabbed the knife in and out of the box several times creating multiple punctures. The box resealed itself shortly after. Olivia picked up the large, brown box and threw it back down at the floor, she waited a moment for it to explode or create some kind of disaster. Nothing. Straight faced, Olivia swiftly opened the window and dropped the box out of it. A feeling of satisfaction washed over her; that's that dealt with Olivia thought to herself. She got washed and dressed then pulled her hair up into a ponytail. As she stepped out of her building, Olivia noticed the brown box lay in a puddle near where she had dropped it previously. She thought hard. Was it sensible to just leave it there? Sighing, Olivia walked towards the box and picked it up. The bottom was worn and soggy but still showed no sign of it ever opening. Tossing it into the back of her car, she got into the drivers seat and swung the door shut.

"But it worked Peter! This experiment, I assure you, would be just as safe and promising" Walter pleaded.

"No Walter," Peter replied, "you are not drugging Olivia's food!" Olivia walked in holding a large cardboard box that looked like it had been dropped in a puddle. She pushed it onto a tabletop. "When I woke up, this was just sitting there, in the middle of my room. I tried to open it but it won't. I've tried everything." Walter examined the box and pulled out some sort of knife stabbing the box repeatedly. When finished, the box healed itself, closing up all the slits.

"Hmm" Walter thought deeply and further examined the box. He looked down to the silver analogue watch on his wrist. After, he looked up to Peter and counted to three under his breath. Looking back down to his watch, Walter gasped. "How could I have not seen this before?" Walter said to himself. Turning to Olivia and Peter, Walter spoke "I believe that we never really woke up; that we are still dreaming."


	5. When things turn purple

**When** **things** **turn** **purple**

Turning to Walter, Olivia said "I know it's exciting Walter but-"

"There are no buts, I am sure this must be a dream." Walter interrupted stubbornly.

Olivia spoke again, finishing her sentence "but couldn't there be another explanation for this? Surely if this really is a dream then I would be able to wake myself up, and I've tried; it's no use."

Peter decided it was time for him to make a compromise between them "why don't we just find a way to prove whether this really is a dream or reality?" Olivia nodded in approval and they set off to prove their theories.

After hours of messing with equipment and staring into space hoping something would happen, Walter finally came up with something, "wait a second... Cows, they're usually white and black or white and brown, yes?" Peter sighed while Olivia nodded her head looking slightly worried about where this was heading. "We'll then, why is Gene all of a sudden purple?" Olivia's eyes shot towards Gene the cow and she gasped. What she had previously thought was a normal cow, she now realised was not. Indeed, it was purple.

Olivia frowned, "Well, I guess you were right then," Olivia admitted "this is still a dream." Walter gave her a smug I told you so look and hummed happily as he trotted over to pet his new purple cow.

Olivia pinched herself. Nothing happened. She tried again. Nothing happened. "Water" she started "how exactly am I meant to wake up?"

Walter looked offended, confused and generally shocked "why on earth would you want to wake up." Olivia didn't know how to respond to this because honestly, she wasn't sure why she wanted to wake up either.

"I guess I just like being more in control of things..." She trailed off.

"It is a good point, Walter. How will we wake up?" Peter asked.

A guilty expression crossed Walter's face as he fidgeted around nervously. "I haven't really figured that out yet..." He mumbled.

"What?!" Olivia shouted.

"Okay, okay I don't know. I guess I just assumed we would automatically wake up after a while but it's been a while already and-"

Olivia cut him off, "you're telling me that we have no way of getting out of this?" For a short moment, all three of them stood awkwardly in silence, just for a few short seconds because their silence was cut off by a very loud bang.


	6. Slipping away

**Slipping** **away**

Everything happened so quickly. Before she knew it, Olivia was thrown up into the air with an immense force. Shards of glass lingered in the air for a milli-second. As did Olivia. Suddenly they were falling, everything, Olivia felt as if she was falling down into an endless hole. A loud crack rung out in Olivia's ears as her head hit the hard surface below and a sharp pain ran through her body. She tried to turn her head but she couldn't move. Struggling to keep hold of her consciousness, Olivia concentrated hard however it was too much effort, she could feel herself slipping away. Black dots appeared in her eyes as she felt her senses numbing. The feeling in her hands went and the strong smell of burning died down, the sound of screams and flames flickering transformed into a frightening silence. Olivia could no longer taste ashes in her mouth and soon enough her vision blurred into an inky black darkness. Was she dying? It was too hard to think, her thoughts started to drift away from her and her shallow breaths died out. One by one, she felt every cell in her brain slip away until not much was left. No matter how hard she tried, Olivia could not think, she could not panic. With no energy, no thoughts left, her heart stopped and she let go once and for all.


	7. Sharp

**Sharp**

Olivia shot up. She was sitting in her bed, sweat dripping down her face. She fumbled around for her phone but her whole body was shaking and she could barely stand. When Olivia spotted it, she held it in her hand. Three new messages, it read. Shakily, Olivia pressed the open button and watched the screen as the closed envelope icon disappeared. The first message was from Broyles; Report to my office ASAP, it's urgent. The second message was also from Broyles; Where are you? There's an important case and no one has turned up. I need you there now and make sure you inform Dr Bishop as well. That was from nine thirty seven this morning. Olivia checked the clock, it was now four PM; she had been asleep for almost sixteen hours! But that was assuming she had really woken up this time, Olivia wasn't so sure.

The third message was from a blocked number; Want to find out what's really happened? Meet me outside massive dynamic, eleven PM tonight. Sharp. Olivia's eyes widened, _what's_ _really_ _happened_- what did that mean? Should she go? Olivia knew that whoever sent the text was probably dangerous however she could not resist the offer they had made her. Olivia got dressed and called Broyles; she apologised for not turning up and told him that she had overslept; this wasn't _completely_ a lie. He told her that although he was disappointed, it was OK, as long as she never did it again.

It was after that call that Olivia realised how hungry she was; she hadn't eaten for over a day. She opened the cupboard to find not much food. _That's_ _strange_ Olivia thought to herself _I'm_ _sure_ _it_ _was_ _full_ _yesterday_. To her horror, she realised this meant that she could still be dreaming- trapped in her own dreams forever.

Peter opened one eye. He was lay in a pile of ash and rubble. Flames flickered around his head. Smoke wafted into his nose. Walter was sat upright next to him, his eyes crossed, looking at his nose which had ash on the tip

"Where's Olivia?" Peter asked, slightly worried.

Walter did a 360 turn around the room and replied "she's not here."

Peter looked annoyed "yes, I know that but where has she gone?"

"Peter, you must remember that this is a dream. She could be anywhere; literally. She might have even woken up, which obviously we have had no success with."

"Either way, we need to find her. Come on, lets start looking."

A chilly breeze blew Olivia's hair back and made the scarf around her neck flail around wildly. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she walked down the dark alleyway. A faint street lamp hummed quietly, glowing softly in the darkness. As she turned a corner, the towering building stood eerily still and the words "massive dynamic" stretched across the face it. Olivia walked down a stony path leading to the front entrance. It seemed unlikely that this anonymous person would meet her in such an obvious place so Olivia tried to look for somewhere more discreet. As she walked down the side of the building, Olivia spotted a shadowy figure. She couldn't yet make out who it was.

"Hello?" Olivia said. The mystery figure turned around slowly however Olivia was still struggling to make out who it was.

"Hello agent Dunham." The person replied. Olivia recognised the voice immediately and suddenly realised how stupid she had been. She remembered how the anonymous message she had received earlier had told her to arrive at eleven PM, sharp. It was only at that moment that Olivia understood the real meaning of this. Although she had previously thought the word sharp at the end implied that she must be there at exactly eleven PM, Olivia now knew that it was in fact the signature of the "anonymous" writer. But really the message wasn't anonymous at all. Of course, the figure was the one and only, Nina Sharp.


	8. The ugly truth

**The** **ugly** **truth**

"I knew you would come."

Olivia spoke "How? Wait- why didn't you just say it was you in the message?"

A sly smile crossed Nina's face, "I did."

"But, you knew I wouldn't figure it out!" Olivia's voice raised slightly.

"Olivia," Nina said softly "I wanted the message to be- well anonymous because if you knew it was me, you would question why I was asking you to come here."

A million questions crammed into Olivia's brain and she found herself unable to speak. What did Nina mean when she said 'what's really happened' and how did she know? Why did she want to meet in such a secretive place?

Nina smiled, "I guess you're a little bit confused then?" She said. Olivia nodded. "Let me explain." Nina started, "What you have recently experienced- the dreams, were in fact not a result of Walter's experiment. If I am going to be honest, it was a rather pity experiment; not at all creative and still had no real science behind it... Anyway, what really happened is you, Peter and Walter were all drugged in your sleep by an unknown organisation, they took you to their lab and put all your brains in perfect synch together. I believe they were searching for information in your minds. Why they returned you back to your home, I don't know. I don't know what they want either." Olivia's mouth hung open. Nothing felt real anymore. In reality, she didn't really know anything. It was like someone had just told her that one plus one wasn't two, that it was now three. She felt like a child who had just been told that Santa wasn't actually real. She used to think of her life as quite complicated but compared to now it couldn't have been any simpler.

"How do I know that this isn't a dream?" Olivia finally asked.

"You don't. But it isn't. You'll just have to trust me." Nina hoped that Olivia could trust her, it might have been the difference between life and death. "You'll have to live somewhere safer now and you should be under constant supervision."

"No." Olivia replied abruptly "I am not moving house and I am certainly not going to be watched over like a child! They've obviously let me go for a reason so why would they try to take me back? What we really should be doing is looking for Peter and Walter, who knows what they're doing to them now."

Nina sighed, of course Olivia wouldn't be keen on the idea of being overly protected, she didn't want help. "I know, you're right but if they take you back we have almost no chance of finding you. Yes, we do need to help Walter and Peter but that doesn't mean we should disregard your own safety. So, please just stay in my spare room. It's really quite nice actually."

Olivia considered her options, finally deciding what would be the smarter option, "fine. I'll stay with you as long as we start searching straight away." Nina smiled. Keeping Olivia safe was vital if they were ever going to catch these people and save Walter and Peter from whatever they were doing to them.


End file.
